


Cannot Be Sick

by MaddieandChimney



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M, TW: Vomit, tw: sickness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24839512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: Maddie has been struggling with severe morning sickness for months, so when Chimney is feeling ill, he decides it's best to hide it from her.No, he decides, he simply cannot be sick.
Relationships: Howie "Chimney" Han & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Kudos: 10
Collections: Madney One-Shots





	Cannot Be Sick

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mamalovesherbagels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamalovesherbagels/gifts).



Chimney is sick enough to openly admit it to Bobby, to beg him to make some excuse as to why he isn’t in work that day so Buck doesn’t go running to Maddie. When he walks in from his shift five hours earlier than he’s meant to, he gulps down the lump in his throat and forces a smile on his face as he looks at his pregnant girlfriend, sitting on the couch with crackers and a pot of hot mustard resting on her twenty-three week bump.

“You’re home early?” He knew the question was coming, had thought up a million excuses on the way home before settling on the lie that so easily falls from his lips.

“I asked Bobby if I could use up some of my leave because I knew you were home all day. I-I heard you throwing up before I left…” He doesn’t look at her when he speaks, because she will know he’s lying just by looking at the way his cheeks have reddened, unable to meet her eyes. Instead, he grabs two bottles of water from the fridge and moves towards her.

What he needs is to sit down, what he wants though is to kiss his beautiful girlfriend and say hello to their unborn child. But he knows he can’t risk making her any sicker than she is right then, he doesn’t want to add to the hellish morning sickness she’s been suffering for far longer than any doctor suggested. Two hospital drips and two IV drips later, endless anti-nausea medication prescriptions, advice on what to do… she was still there, looking a little paler than she had done that morning if it was at all possible.

So, he decides, him feeling a little feverish, and a little nauseated, isn’t anything. It doesn’t matter that the room is kind of spinning, his head is pounding but still, he leans down to press a kiss to her forehead, handing her the bottle of water until he moves to sit as far away from her on the couch as he possibly can.

“Do I smell?” She nervously laughs, shifting a little to move towards him before he shakes his head, “No, of course not, I do. I’m going to grab a shower in a second, just wanted to sit with you for a moment.” Maddie seems satisfied with the answer, remaining in her current spot as her attention turns back towards the television, nervously toying with the idea of risking another cracker as she brings it to her lips, dropping it again.

“Still feeling sick?” He’s nervous for the answer, they only have one bathroom and his stomach is churning, his mouth is watering in the way he knows is a tell-tale sign he’s going to need to be as close to a toilet bowl in the next few minutes.

“No, no… just… taking it slow. Kept two down so far,” She laughs nervously, “You look a little pale, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah-no, I’m great. Just hate the thought of you being so sick, wish there was something I could do for you.”

She only shrugs, “You do plenty. You’re here, right?”

With a forced smile, he nods his head, “I’m just… gonna go grab that shower, I’ll grab you that bucket whilst I’m taking it up.” Oh god, he knows he’s not going to be able to hold it in much longer, practically snatching the bucket they usually keep by their bed for her, his mouth tightly closed when he places it in front of her. He reaches out a hand to gently squeeze her shoulder when he walks past her, making certain she’s not looking at him when he practically runs – glad her attention is purely focused on season ten of Greys Anatomy after Josh told her he wouldn’t speak to her again if she didn’t watch it.

It’s a scramble to get the shower running, on full blast before he practically dives towards the toilet bowl. By the time it’s over, he’s shaking, his breathing heavy as he lets out a groan, only hoping that Maddie is too caught up in her TV show to have heard any of that.

He waits a few minutes, there’s no knock on the door, no concerned calling of his name, so he takes the opportunity to strip off as quickly as he can manage, only almost tripping over a few times until he steps into the shower. The relief of the water is only short-lived, sinking down, to lean his head against the cool tiles, taking deep breaths in an attempt to quell the nausea he’s feeling right then.

It’ll pass, that’s what he tells himself, it’s a twenty-four-hour bug, maybe a few days at the most. He needs to focus on Maddie, making sure she’s well enough to look after both herself and their unborn child. They’re what’s important. He just needs to push past it, push down whatever he’s feeling so he can be there in a few hours when she’s probably in the exact same position he had been just moments before. He needs to rub her back, needs to be ready to take her to the hospital if her blood pressure drops again.

No, he decides, he simply _cannot_ be sick.

Even if his body is screaming at him, telling him otherwise right then.

* * *

“What are you doing here?”

“You look like crap.” Chimney wants to roll his eyes but his head is pounding and he doesn’t trust the movement to be anything but painful, so instead, he lets out a huff and opens the door to his apartment a little wider.

“Remind me why I miss you.” He mumbles, slowly making his way to the couch where he has slyly set himself up with Maddie’s bucket, some water and a blanket whilst she sleeps.

“I mean you didn’t have to get sick to get my attention, you could have just called… where’s Maddie?” There’s concern in her voice, the kind that he hears in everyone’s voices when they ask about his girlfriend. Neither of them had expected the pregnancy to take such a difficult toll on her body. There’s only one time he’s felt so helpless in his entire life and that was watching cancer steal his mom from him when he was only a teenager. He couldn’t do anything to make it better then, and whilst Maddie wasn’t dying, he couldn’t do anything to ease her pain or exhaustion.

“I managed to get her to sleep, had to hook her up to an IV drip, again.” If he sounds bitter, he absolutely was. They were so excited to become parents, but Maddie’s body just seemed to be rejecting every beautiful part of pregnancy there was and instead, embracing one of the most difficult parts with such intensity. “Don’t tell me it’ll pass, Hen, that’s what everyone keeps saying but she’s only just halfway through and—” He’s cut off by the sudden wave of nausea that rushes through his body and he hates himself for wanting to cry because it’s only a snippet of what Maddie goes through almost every day.

Hen picks up on it immediately, rushing to grab the bucket from the floor before she puts it under his chin and rubs his back. “There we go, let it out.”

“I-I’d do this every day if it meant she didn’t have to.” He groans, the moment he’s done, watching as Hen gently wipes at the corners of his mouth with a small sigh. “This will pass, so don’t tell her, please? You know what she’s like, she’ll want to cuddle and look after me when I should be looking after her. Please, Hen?”

It’s the desperation in his voice and the pleading in his voice that forces Hen to nod her head and they both know he’s right. Maddie would happily push aside anything she’s feeling in an attempt to look after him, whether that worked out for her or not. “Let’s cuddle up on the couch, if Maddie wakes up, I’ll see to her. Let me take care of you and then you can go back to taking care of her, deal?”

Him actually sitting back to relax on the couch is enough of an answer, his eyes fluttering to a close the moment Hen is next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He lets himself lean into her warmth, only worrying for a moment that he’s going to get her sick too, he’d voice it out loud if he didn’t feel like being selfish for just a second. “I’ve been reading all these medical journals and research papers about Hyperemesis Gravidarum, I’ve written it all out for Maddie to take with her to the doctor next time you go, try a few new things.”

He should have known Hen would go out of her way to try and help him and Maddie, and honestly, he thinks, she’s brilliant so if anyone was going to find a solution to their problems, it would most definitely be her. That was what he missed most about working with her, all those amazing ideas she would come up with in the moment.

His arms wrap tighter around her, the only way he can think to show his gratitude right then, not sure he trusts himself to open his mouth in fear that he’s going to vomit what little is left in his stomach. “How have you even managed to hide this from Maddie?” Hen coos, her fingers running through his hair.

He takes a deep breath before he answers, grip tightening on her shirt, “She’s pretty out of it. Don’t want her to worry. Good motivation.”

“She’s lucky to have you… but I don’t think she’d want you pretending to be okay when you’re not.”

“I hate lying to her.” Chimney whines, wrapping himself impossibly tighter and closer to the other woman when he squeezes his eyes shut, “But gotta lie. She has to focus on her, not me.” And really, he would do anything to have his girlfriend fussing over him in the amazing way she often does when he’s sick – making him soup (that tastes absolutely terrible but he pretends), rubbing his stomach, singing to him softly. But right then, Hen is there and she’s a safe backup, she’s been there for him for so many years, in his strongest and his weakest moments.

“I know, Chim, I know. You’re right, this will pass but until it does, I’ll stay here.”

“Maddie will be suspicious.”

“You’ve always told me I’m brilliant, I’ll come up with something. Now, less talking, more sleeping. I’ll be right here, you’re not getting rid of me until you’re feeling all better.” Chimney just breathes it all in for a moment, holding onto her tightly as she wraps an arm around him to pull him even closer if it’s at all possible.

“Miss you, Hen.”

“I’m right here, Chim.”

It’s not what he means, they both know that but he leaves it unsaid, just glad she’s there for him.


End file.
